Abstract
This article develops an analytical model of force-composition that
combines the advantages of conscription with those of an all-volunteer
force. Using Israel as a hypothesis-generating case study, it argues
that mandatory military service has undergone changes centered on five
key organizing principles: selective conscription, early discharges,
elongated lengths of service, forms of voluntary service and differing
pay-scales and other material and non-material incentives for
conscripts. These principles are “grafted” onto conscription creating
a hybrid, “volunteer-ized”, model. The utility of the theoretical
model lies in explaining how these principles facilitate mobilizing a
needed number or recruits, providing an adequate level of military
expertise, as well as maintaining the legitimacy of the armed forces by
meeting domestic social, economic and political expectations about its
composition and the use of personnel at its disposal. The system is
adaptive and flexible, as shown in throughout the comparisons throughout
the paper.